THE NEW YORKER 47 not quite so early on weekdays as the young ones. \Vhat the hostesses call "the social life" of the club begins to get under way after dinner, when all the hur- ried dressing and visiting upstairs is over. The plainer-dressed, more pur- poseful middle-aged ladies go to the classrooms, where they busily set out lesson books on tables, or turn to their neighbors and say fussily, "Do you think that he eXplained that sub junc- tive clearly enough last Tuesday r " There is none of that chair-tipping, laughing, and gossiping of college classrooms, nor is there any of that frantic, desperate last-minute boning- up on irregular verbs; you see no lips moving fast and stiff, trying to memorize rules, and then changing to blank innocence the moment the pro- fessor appears. These wOIlJen make an orderly array of their books and papers. Some have done the lesson and some have not, but,all have a conscious glow of spending an evening well; they feel that they are right just because they are there. Another group, generally made up of rather old ladies, drifts into the par- lors. They have been having a Dutch Treat, or Get-Together, dinner. All through dinner they have conversed politely among themselves. Now they divide up, each seeking the most likely- looking person, the one who most near- ly resembles the people of her own social sphere or the sphere she hopes to enter. They settle down in twos and threes to an orgy of talk, or move singly about the room, staring questioningly, looking for more likely prospects. Other nights there will be a great gala affair. A well-known lecturer gives a travelogue, or a well-known musician gives a concert in the big hall. rr'he price of admission is quite modest. The hotel is crowded on those nights, and there is a fair sprinkling of men there, yet over all the crowd is a kind of pall of gentility. This in no way im- pairs the enjoyment the old ladies are feeling. They have on their best gar- ments and have taken this opportunity to invite some friend in who will find the affair equally interesting. Another type of woman sits in the lounges, and a special type of man calls on her there. These men are a breed by themselves. No ordinary man has the courage just to go and call on some- body at one of these "club" hotels. If the ordinary man has only a few mo- ments, he takes his girl for a walk around the block, or to a restaurant for a cup of coffee. But neither he nor his <<. l" ,,d' :; :::.::\ t , . , . ... : , : . . : ' . " .: . . . : ,: . ; , :' : " : f . : . . . :: . : . ; , ' : t : : : : : i : : : :. ', ' , ' , : , ,' : , , : . , > :, ' , ; . E , @ , . : . ; : :: . : . i . ì;,- h:' V:' .-:;:::;;;. w \) "'i?:r!JJ :.-: . ::::=- .,r,l/ . 11 :..:. r.,,' I :.:..... ,:: f -.::;; (f J,ßà m ,:=:::: ,; ,tr t , '" ' ;'iI 1 " "<.': ..,/" : . ...:";:t :.:i .. 4t:= :'f .tß 11 it ::: : r I , ill r : , .\!j: R! i 1 :A M1 :í*]t .. E:' . t.1 r m I ./tt: I tf'Nt' ; \\( ", ;,," ;'fi 1 iK:" I'" , ,.: $.:: .: < +1 \, Ijj . iwiàl \ J \, J ;1.! , " \ , " . ; I }ii I nu Eun s cll tölí, :::!ft::tf SIN \1 . . . . FRO 1\1 THE H It N 0 0 F l/\ N 111 N THREE EXOUISITE FRAGRANCES.... THE SUBTLETY OF RUMEUR.... THE ROMltNCE OF SCf\NDI\L.... THE MYSTERY OF MY SIN p A R I s